Drama Glossary
Key theatre terms and definitions including related shows.
A parent whose children have moved out, often a theme in contemporary plays exploring identity and life transitions.
A neurological condition sometimes portrayed in drama to raise awareness or illustrate physical and emotional challenges.
An epistolary drama is a play or musical in which the story is conveyed primarily through letters, diary entries, or written correspondence between characters. This form gives audiences direct access to the inner thoughts and voices of the characters while maintaining dramatic tension through what is left unsaid. It is often used to highlight intimacy, secrecy, or personal growth.
A theatrical style that distorts reality to convey inner emotional experience, popular in early 20th-century drama.
Feminist theatre is a form of drama that highlights women’s experiences, challenges patriarchal structures, and advocates for gender equality on stage. It often portrays strong, independent female characters and critiques the limitations historically placed on women in society and theatre. Productions in this genre aim to empower audiences and inspire social change through performance.
A form of psychological manipulation portrayed in realist theatre to explore control, power, and abuse.
A segregated area of a city often associated with poverty and marginalization, used in plays to explore inequality.
Grotesque refers to a style of theatre that blends the bizarre, distorted, or monstrous with comic or sympathetic elements. It often exaggerates physical or emotional traits to provoke both laughter and discomfort in audiences. In drama, the grotesque highlights the strange or unsettling while still revealing human vulnerability and truth.
The act of selling goods, often used in theatre to characterize the working class or depict street life and economic struggle.
Describes cultural norms favoring heterosexual relationships, often critiqued in modern and queer theatre.
A betrayal of romantic commitment, often a catalyst for emotional turmoil and dramatic conflict.
A condition of separation or loneliness, frequently central to character development in realist or symbolic drama.